rickchand

OK, so maybe the Atlanta Braves career home run leaders list isn't the most imposing statistical group in baseball (Ryan Klesko is in the top 10). But Chipper Jones is No. 1, and you can't take that away from him ... at least until Jeff Francoeur passes him in 2012. Jones hit homers from both sides of the plate on Thursday — Nos. 371 and 372 — to pass Dale Murphy on the Atlanta leader list and help the Braves beat the Dodgers 8-6. Yes, Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron both played in Atlanta, but the franchise has only been in that city since 1966 (Aaron hit fewer than half of his franchise-record 755 homers there). So the city's official home run leader is a guy named Chipper and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. Look, at least it's not Pokey or Boof.

More important, the Braves are only three games behind the Mets in the NL East, setting up that potential Atlanta-Milwaukee NLCS that we've all been waiting for. Try and sit out that one, Hammerin' Hank!

• Beckett Brings The Nasty ... Or is it the cheese? We forget, but Josh Beckett did win his 12th of the season on Thursday as the Red Sox smashed the Devil Ray's faces in with a board, 15-4. Coco Crisp update: Grand slam in the first. And Mike Lowell had five hits. It was Tampa Bay's 11th straight loss, as if that wasn't already marked on a calendar on your refrigerator door.

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• The Extra C Is For Craptacular. Come on C.C. Sabathia, what's up with this? SeeSee gave up three homers (Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco) as Detroit and Justin Verlander beat Cleveland 12-3. This takes some of the potential luster off of the All-Star Game, if such a thing is possible.